It’s finally happened: Somebody got shot in a movie theater for talking.

The weird part? The movie was “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, a film that wouldn’t necessarily encourage loudmouthery.

Over at Cinematical, Peter Martin takes the long view of the incident, asking pertinent questions like “Who brings a gun to a Cate Blanchett movie?” and making sure we note that the assailant sat back down to finish the film after blasting his cap, while the rest of the audience fled the screening. (I’m just glad he didn’t open up on the other theatergoers for cutting off his view.)

Since the victim wasn’t critically wounded — just shot in the arm — it somehow feels okay to make light of this. And in truth, it’s pretty great that no one was killed, because this is the sort of incident that’s been coming for years.

People aren’t quiet in movies any more. And acceptable theater behavior — talking, texting, taking cell calls — has gone completely out the window since multiplexes have turned into party zones, with the video games and the Burger Kings and the bar service. (And who brings a kid to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, anyway? Was “Marley & Me” sold out?)

I’ve shushed more than my share of babblers — usually by shaming them with the same voice I employ to stop dogs from eating my bedding — but I’ve never come even close to getting physical with anyone. Of course, I’m not packing heat, either.

Was it George Carlin or David Cross who came up with the bullet theory of reducing gun violence? (UPDATE: It was Chris Rock; thanks, Mark!) Let everyone have a piece, but make the bullets $10,000 each, so you really have to think through whether someone needs killing.

Ah, that won’t help. People will just club each other with their gun butts. Which would, I’ll freely admit, make “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” a lot more entertaining.

I am not a sentimentalist, but waking up from a mild turkey coma, seeing fresh snow on the ground and realizing that there are sixty Jaffa cakes begging to be eaten … ah, that says Christmas to me.

My values are slightly skewed, mind you. But not as badly (segue!) as the values of the people who green-lit the soulless failures that make up this morning’s Sympatico/MSN gallery, which nods in the direction of “The Spirit” and “Valkyrie” by running down seven other recent movies that appeared to have everything in place for successful ventures, only to botch the job hideously.

Sorry to bring up “The Golden Compass” again, but relevant is relevant.

Happy Boxing Day, everyone! May you make it safely through the malls, find great deals where you need them, and enjoy at least one piece of candy before noon.

I think there’s some stuff. Also, it seems Harold Pinter has died. Somehow that cheap shot about his “Sleuth” screenplay being a sign of early decline seems kind of mean now. Not wrong, mind you, just mean.

“Bedtime Stories”: Adam Sandler plays a shiftless uncle who learns the value of growing up when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start coming vividly true. But the really improbable part? Keri Russell plays his love interest. Rad bears witness.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button“: Brad Pitt ages backwards! Cate Blanchett dances! New Orleans serves as a clumsy metaphoric backdrop for an epic American tale that’s as digitally processed — and, ultimately, as pointless — as a certain 1994 Oscarpalooza directed by Robert Zemeckis. I don’t blame David Fincher for trying (and failing) to tell a human story as much as I blame screenwriter Eric Roth; now, that guy can just go Gump himself.

“Marley and Me”: Look, I know the dog is adorable. I also know what happens to the dog. I will be elsewhere, probably forever. But Rad acknowledges that the movie worked on him, so that’s something.

“The Spirit“: Frank Miller tries to bend Will Eisner’s doofy crime-fighter to his misogynist will, and fails mightily. Some eggs just aren’t meant to be hard-boiled — especially when Samuel L. Jackson is ranting about them at full volume in every other scene. (Louis Lombardi’s a hoot, though.)

“Valkyrie“: Yeah, Tom Cruise doesn’t really pull of the German-aristocrat thing as well as he thinks he does. But at least he’s not the only thing pushing against Bryan Singer’s tale of a 1944 coup attempt within the Nazi high command; that whole Hitler-assassination plot somehow fails to generate a whole lot of tension. On the upside, you’ll witness incredible advances in digital swastika technology.

“The Wrestler”: Darren Aronofsky’s gritty tale of a lug’s redemption has been greeted ecstatically at film festivals around the world, and it is indeed very good … though, much like Mickey Rourke’s disintegrating hero, it’s also a little on the clumsy side. But that’s really the worst thing I can say about it, and Rourke really is amazing, as Barrett and Jason argue at greater length.

Oh, and “Waltz with Bashir” opens tomorrow. It’s very good. If you aren’t braving the Boxing Day hordes, there are worse ways to spend a soggy afternoon …